Sometimes finding your way home takes more than courage. It takes a leap of faith. Chasing at the Surface  tells the story of a young girl’s courage and the healing power of nature. After her mother unexpectedly leaves home, twelve-year old Marisa struggles with her feelings of loss and abandonment just as a pod of nineteen orca whales―mothers with their new calves following a run of chum salmon―become trapped in the enclosed inlet near her Northwest home. Marisa’s journey to help the whales find their way home brings her to a new understanding of the assaults humans have had on nature, and the complicated meaning of family and home.

In November 2005, Washington's iconic killer whales, known as Southern Resident orcas, were placed on the endangered species list. It was a victory long overdue for a fragile population of fewer than one hundred whales. Author and certified marine naturalist Sandra Pollard traces the story and destinies of the many Southern Resident orcas captured for commercial purposes in or near the Puget Sound between 1964 and 1976. During this time, these highly intelligent members of the dolphin family lost nearly one-third of their population. Drawing on original archive material, this important volume outlines the history of orca captivity while...

ASJA Writing Awards Recipient Honorable Mention Best Children's/Young Adult Nonfiction Book 2017 Erich Hoyt Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises In the Encyclopedia of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, award-winning author and whale researcher Erich Hoyt takes readers into the field for an intimate encounter with some 90 species of cetaceans that make their homes in the world's oceans. Drawing on decades of firsthand experience and a comprehensive familiarity with the current revolution in cetacean studies, Hoyt provides unique insights into the life histories of these compelling marine mammals. Here are discoveries about cetacean...